Quotes from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

Hunter S. Thompson ·  384 pages

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“Weird behavior is natural in smart children, like curiosity is to a kitten.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“It was one of those fine little love stories that can make you smile in your sleep at night.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I’m here to tell you that fast is better. I’ve always believed this, in spite of the trouble it’s caused me. Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba…”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“On my tombstone they will carve, "IT NEVER GOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“I understand that fear is my friend, but not always. Never turn your back on Fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed. My father taught me that, along with a few other things that have kept my life interesting.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century



“Morality is temporary, wisdom is permanent.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world—bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Fear is a healthy instinct, not a sign of weakness. It is a natural self-defense mechanism that is common to felines, wolves, hyenas, and most humans. Even fruit bats know fear, and I salute them for it. If you think the world is weird now, imagine how weird it would be if wild beasts had no fear.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“On some days you get what you want, and on others, you get what you need.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century



“This is the fast lane, folks...and some of us like it here.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“One of them is knowing the difference between Morality and Wisdom. Morality is temporary, Wisdom is permanent… Ho ho. Take that one to bed with you tonight.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“At the top of the mountain we are all snow leopards.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Sane is rich and powerful. Insane is wrong and poor and weak. The rich are free, the poor are put in cages. Res Ipsa Loquitur, amen. Mahalo.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“I knew a Buddhist once, and I've hated myself ever since.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century



“You can't hoard fun. It has no shelf life.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world—a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us. . . . No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we’ll kill you.
Well, shit on that dumbness. George W. Bush does not speak for me or my son or my mother or my friends or the people I respect in this world. We didn’t vote for these cheap, greedy little killers who speak for America today—and we will not vote for them again in 2002. Or 2004. Or ever.
Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush?
They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us—they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis.
And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. Fuck them.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“There are always risks in challenging excessive police power, but the risks of not challenging it are more dangerous, even fatal.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Politics is the Art of Controlling Your Enviroment.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“The brutal reality of politics would be probably intolerable without drugs.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century



“There is a huge body of evidence to support the notion that me and the police were put on this earth to do extremely different things and never to mingle professionally with each other, except at official functions, when we all wear ties and drink heavily and whoop it up like the natural, good-humored wild boys that we know in our hearts that we are..These occasions are rare, but they happen — despite the forked tongue of fate that has put us forever on different paths...”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer Nazis gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“My life has been the polar opposite of safe, but I am proud of it and so is my son, and that is good enough for me. I would do it all over again without changing the beat, although I have never recommended it to others. That would be cruel and irresponsible and wrong, I think, and I am none of those things.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“I don't mean to say that I'm about to state my credo here on this page, but merely to affirm, sincerely for the first time in my life, my belief in man as an individual and independent entity. Certainly not independence in the everyday sense of the word, but pertaining to a freedom and mobility of thought that few people are able - or even have the courage - to achieve.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba....”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century



“Things are no longer what they seem to be. My telephones are haunted, and animals whisper at me from unseen places.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“Autumn is always a time of Fear and Greed and Hoarding for the winter coming on. Debt collectors are active on old people and fleece the weak and helpless. They want to lay in enough cash to weather the known horrors of January and February. There is always a rash of kidnapping and abductions of schoolchildren in the football months. Preteens of both sexes are traditionally seized and grabbed off the streets by gangs of organized perverts who traditionally give them as Christmas gifts to each other to be personal sex slaves and playthings.

Most of these things are obviously Wrong and Evil and Ugly — but at least they are Traditional. They will happen. Your driveway will ice over, your furnace will blow up, and you will be rammed in traffic by an uninsured driver in a stolen car.

But what the hell? That's why we have Insurance, eh? And the Inevitability of these nightmares is what makes them so reassuring. Life will go on, for good or ill. But some things are forever, right? The structure may be a little Crooked, but the foundations are still strong and unshakable.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“It was wonderful, a stunning happy ending to what began as another tragic rock & roll story, as if Bob Dylan had been arrested in Miami for jacking off in a seedy little XXX theater while stroking the spine of a fat young boy.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


“I like this book and I especially like the title. Only a fool or a whore would call it anything else.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century


About the author

Hunter S. Thompson
Born place: in Louisville, Kentucky, The United States
Born date July 18, 1937
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